A Catholic priest, Dr Echezona Obiagbaosogu, who recently resigned from his position as a priest, said he embraced African traditional religion after realising that God called him to serve him through that means.
Obiagbaosogu, who just defended his PhD dissertation titled “Rainmaking and Control in Igbo African Medicine,” noted that he left priesthood after 17 years, adding that he intended to recover the lost African values using the ancient traditions of ancestors.
This, according to him, was also why he committed many years and time in researching act of rain making as a Doctoral Degree (PhD) student and lecturer in African Traditional Religion at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra state.
He added that “I have come to realise that my true calling is to serve my people through the ancient traditions of our ancestors. I was a Catholic priest for 17 years before resigning to embrace the traditional African religion. The topic of my research is ‘Rainmaking and control in Igbo African medicine: A case study of Isieke in Ihiala Local Government Area, Anambra State’.
“I partly lived with my maternal grandfather, who was a traditionalist, while my father was a Christian before he passed away. Though he was a Christian, he still believed in traditional materials. He was an agriculturist with trees around the compound and always brought in new ones, some of which he said were medicinal.
“So, I learned from him to appreciate nature. My background is also significant. I was once a Catholic priest—Rev. Father. I began this research as a priest five years ago and then left the priesthood, so now I am married. I was fascinated by the traditional African spirituality and the art of rainmaking. This made me to spend several months studying under a renowned native doctor, learning the intricacies of the craft.”
